How to Compost

By Roe Sie & Derek Mehn ; Updated September 21, 2017

To get the best quality compost, you need to know how to add and mix the compost to the compost bin and how different types of compost bins work. Start composting like a pro with the help of this free video of outdoor lawn and garden tips.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Roe with Ninja Green in Los Angeles, and I'm going to show you how to compost. I'm here at a client's house finishing up cleaning on a job, and one of the things that people don't realize is that all of this trash, leaves, dried leaves and grass are a great future soil for growing stuff in. So, what you want to do is collect up your dry composting, your leaves, your grass, once it's had a chance to dry. Don't put it in wet, and you can put it into a compost bin, and I have here a couple of options. This client here actually is switching, so they've got a new one and one that they're not using anymore because they wanted one closer to the kitchen. This is a type of composter that sits on the ground. It's open underneath which is great because you can get worms coming up from underneath and worms are great for creating compost and increasing the quality of the compost that you end up getting. Alternatively, you've got a different kind of composter. This kind sits right on the ground and the advantage here is you can place it right next to the kitchen. You can place it on concrete and you can move it around if you don't like the location. Once you put one of these down it's kind of hard to move. This one also tends to create your compost a little faster because it spins. Once you put your compost in, you spin it around and tumble it and mix it up and one of these types that's an on the ground composter you actually have to go in with a tool or a pitchfork and mix it and turn it. In order to have a good balanced compost, you need not only the dry leaves and grass from the garden and other clippings but you also want to mix it with wet compost. They also call it green compost and brown compost and you've got stuff from the kitchen like coffee grounds, eggshells which are great, peels, orange peels, fruit peels, old crusty bread and any other cuttings, vegetables and that sort of thing. You want to avoid putting anything like meats, fats, oils, they tend to go rancid. They tend to smell a lot more. When you have these kinds of ingredients in your compost you're going to end up with a great rich compost that will be really good quality soil for your vegetable gardens in the future. I'm Roe with Ninja Green in Los Angeles, and that's how you compost.

About the Author

Roe Sie and Derek Mehn opened their environmentally conscious gardening service Ninja Green in 2010 in Los Angeles, California.